Ju Dou (Zhang, 1990): ICA Cinema, 4pm
This 16mm presentation is part of the Celluloid Sunday strand at the ICA.
Time Out review:
A magnificent melodrama, even more visually sumptuous and emotionally draining than the same director's earlier Red Sorghum,
even though its cruel tale of adultery and revenge constitutes, to some
extent, a blatant reworking of themes. This time, it's set in and
around a dyeing workshop in a remote town in the 1920s, where the young
wife of the ancient, impotent and sadistic dyer decides to make the old
man's adopted nephew her lover and protector. Even when she finds
herself with child, their affair remains a secret; but after the dyer is
left partly paralysed by an accident, they brazenly flaunt their love,
so that the vengeful cuckold's only hope is to turn the child against
its parents. Hardly surprising, perhaps, that the Chinese authorities
virtually dissociated themselves from this Japanese-financed,
less-than-rosy picture of a country given over to unfettered sexual
desire and murderous hatred. But it's this vision - expressed through
superbly forthright performances, and in images whose stunning colours
are sure to stick in the mind - that lends Zhang's movie the stark,
searing power of Greek tragedy. Its dark wit and fiery pace ensure that
even the occasional overheated moments carry conviction.
Geoff Andrew
Here (and above) is the trailer.
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